Welcome to our 3rd NFT artist spotlight brought to you by NFTSYD, where we showcase the talented artists, creators and enthusiasts from the local and global NFT communities. This week’s featured NFT artist is a 20 year old photographer, urban explorer and in demand creative director from Sydney, Australia who goes by the artistic name, Slippn

Our aim throughout this artist series is to provide our NFTSYD community with helpful insights and practical tips to learn from other artist experiences, as you navigate through your own personal and professional journey with Non-Fungible Tokens as a creator, collector or enthusiast.

Hi Slippn, tell us a little about yourself?

I‘ve been taking photos as far back as I can remember. My sister is 14 years older than me and so growing up I always looked up to her and knew this was something I wanted to do.

At age 13 I came across some photos from people on the edge of city building rooftops in Sydney and immediately knew it was something I wanted to do.

I fell into the urban exploration subculture and it consumed my life for the following five years. I found a group of like minded individuals, and from there we figured out how to access the roofs of hotels and office buildings, and put in hours learning the entry and exit points of train tunnels. While the rest of my peers would spend their weekends partying and consuming goon sacks in public parks, I could be found walking on the edge of city skyscrapers and dodging speeding trains, all with a camera in hand.

All of this wasn’t without consequence — at age 16 I found myself arrested, and at 17 I broke my back whilst running from security at a building site.

I’ve since quit exploring and moved onto other creative ventures, but I have lifetime’s worth of photos and memories from my teenage days.

When did you first get into NFT’s?

I started looking into doing NFTs in March of 2021, but I didn’t end up launching a opensea collection until October of 2021.

In all honesty I never really took my photography seriously as ‘art’. It’s not the sort of thing that is typically recognised or respected amongst the art world.

However, I was completely inspired by fellow international explorers such as Driftershoots and Tom Durante who took the leap into NFT’s and absolutely thrived. It is clear now that NFTs are a powerful means for artists who create work that falls outside the realm of the traditional gallery system.

Are you currently working on any projects or collaborations ?

I’m currently featured in an ‘Aussie Artists Collective**’ **online gallery amongst 68 other Australian photographers which has been cool to be a part of.

What I’m most excited about is an upcoming project I have with my good friend @carlhowski. We’re planning to hold a physical NFT gallery space here in Sydney early 2022. This is where I plan to launch my next collection. Carl and I have travelled all over Australia exploring together and he’s one of the best photographers I know, so it’s only right we do this together as well.

I don’t want to give away too many details about the gallery yet, but keep an eye on my social media accounts to stay tuned!

How do you seek out opportunities to connect with the NFT community and continue to build your profile?

I try to stay as active as possible on twitter and connect with other Australians who are involved in the NFT scene. I also communicate often with other urban explorers across the globe. We’re in a big group chat together and everyone seems to have each others’ backs and look out for opportunities for each other.

If the opportunities aren’t there though, I’ll do my best to create them for myself and for others.

Do you have any advice on how to cultivate a collector base?

I’m still at the beginning of my NFT journey so I don’t want to speak like I have a strong collector base yet! But from what I’ve experienced and learnt, if you believe in yourself and your art fully, people will too. If you have put in hours, blood, sweat and tears, it will show through your art. I think if collectors are assured that you are in it for the long haul and you can provide value to your work, they will invest and others will follow.

I also think it’s about finding your niche and putting your work in front of the right people who will be interested in your work and have the capacity to invest. This is something I’m still working on, but I plan to keep pursuing it in the near future.

Who are some of your favourite NFT artists?

The boys I mentioned above Driftershoots and Tom Durante are amazing and have some incredible artwork. I also love the work of fellow explorers @flashinglighhts, @NYC_Awaken, @lilmahnaji and @officialdoumer.

I also think it’s super dope to see other artists such as AIMOS make waves with his NFT project ‘Now Crediting’. This is something that really demonstrated how NFTs can give power to an artist and allow them to get the credit they deserve.

What are your other creative passions besides art?

To be honest, art is pretty much my whole life haha.

Any advice to anyone looking into entering the NFT space?

I can only speak for NFT artists, but I’d recommend people to take a lot of time to curate their collections. Allow your work to tell a cohesive story. Put yourself out there on social media, and connect with as many people as you can. Also, believe in yourself fully!

We look forward to seeing more urban exploration NFT photography in the future and we’re excited to see what Slippn has in store with the upcoming NFT Gallery exhibition.

Be sure to stay connected with Slippn’s through these social media links.

Website: slippn.com

Instagram: Slippn

**Twitter: **Sllippn

Opensea NFT Collection, Keys to the City

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If you’re are an NFT artist, collector or enthusiast or you know of an exciting project you would like to share with our NFTSYD community, please email us on hello@nftsyd.io

article by @svmmerstein

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